Power of the Stones
by Kithren
Summary: The human world has been invaded . . .There is a new enemy . . .And he is bonded with a dark phoenix . . .Only one person has the power to stop him . . .The one with clear eyes. This story has been completely redone
1. Chapter 1

**Power of the Stones**

Chapter 1: Dark Skies

He moved though the bushes swiftly and silently. His weapon was loaded and ready to fire; all he needed to do now was find his next victim. Hearing footsteps, he stopped and crouched down. He raised the slightly heavy and bulky gun up, the quick movement causing the weapon to make a sloshing sound. The first he had made in awhile. Shifting his weight to either stand and fire or dodge and run, he listened to the footsteps of the person who was nearing his hiding spot.

The person actually turned out to be two people. There names where Zack and Bradley if he remembered correctly. The enemy. The two twelve-year-old boys where talking quietly to each other. Apparently they thought his team was beat. Grinning, he stood and fired at the two unprepared boys, completely soaking them with ice cold water. They were quick to recover from the surprise attack and returned fire.

He reacted on reflexes; diving out of the way of the attempted attack and rolling instantly back onto his feet. Not hesitating or pausing in his motion, he twisted back towards his enemy and fired again.

--------

He sighed as he flicked a soggy spike of dark brown hair out of his eyes. His sky blue tank top and light brown shorts were damp from the water gun fight and clung to his body uncomfortably as he walked down the street.

_He'd had fun though, and that's what was important,_ he thought to himself. _Not to mention I'm a lot dryer than the others who were in the water fight._

He praised himself for that fact. That his reflexes where still sharp, even though he never needed to use them anymore. Not since _then,_ almost a year ago. He was still quick and could still think on his feet, even if he was a little rusty. His wet clothing a statement to that.

He sighed again as he looked to the west. The sun was setting and he was supposed to be home half an hour ago. His mom was probably freaking out by now, and he felt guilty.

When he had returned home from_ there, _his mom had gone into a fit of hysterics. Not that he could blame her; he had been gone for over nine months! When she had asked where he had been, he'd lied, telling his mom and everyone else that he couldn't remember.

Now his mom (who thought that he ran away) freaked out if he was ten minutes late for anything. Again not that he couldn't blame her.

It was almost by chance that he looked up when he did. They were just red dots at first, filling up the sky. However, those red dots stopped him in his tracks. He felt something tighten in his chest as the red dots got bigger. He recognized what they were; he could put a name to them easily, but still he did not act. He just stared in shock as more and more red dots came into view…

So many…

Finally, his mind started working again as the first of them started to dive towards the streets. There where people on the streets…

"Move! Get off the streets! Get off the streets!!" he screamed franticly. Most of the people turned to look at him like he was crazy and some just ignored him and kept on walking. Nobody got off the streets.

Then suddenly, in a blink of an eye, half the people on the streets were dead and the other half were screaming in terror…

He leaned heavily against the ally wall, gasping for breath. It had been only half an hour since the first wave, and so much had been destroyed. His dark brown eyes slid to a burnt body on the other side of the street. So many people were dead…

He covered his mouth and noise with his dirty hands, trying to block out the smell of the burnt flesh. As he slowly slid down the old brick wall, he thought, _Even when he'd been _there_ he hadn't seen so much destruction, so much death._

Buildings where on fire and the streets where littered with rubble. Everywhere he looked, cars and trucks were overturned or on fire. Some even looked like a steamroller had run over them.

And there where bodies…

Dead bodies and Lost Disks where completely two different things, he had quickly come to realize that. With Lost Disks, it had been easier to accept. To pretend that they weren't once living things, even if he knew that they were. Lost disks were like graves, not the real thing, but a marker of someone who had died. Dead bodies . . . there was nothing to lessen the impact of what death really looked like…

He was shaking, and tears were running down his cheeks. He sobbed and the shaking in his body increased. _I'm almost home,_ he told himself firmly. _I have to pull myself together._ Taking a beep breath, he quickly wiped away his tears. Now was not the time to cry.

A quick scan of the skies showed that there where no dragons to be seen. Taking another deep breath, he darted out of the ally.

He rounded a corner at top speed and slammed into something soft and slimy, sending them crashing to the pavement. It took him a moment to come back to his senses. When he did, he cursed his folly.

"Where do you think your going, little human?" one of the Scaled Jells asked.

"Good! Another human to play with!" another added.

There where only five. Two by a truck embedded in a building across the street and two more in the middle of the road. Then the one he'd just ran into just finished pulling itself back together and turned to face him. And he saw the bronze medallion on his chest.

Moo's crest…

As soon as his brain registered that fact, he shifted into autopilot, quickly taking note of where the enemies were, what he knew about Scaled Jells, and if he could beat them. It was just like he was back _there_...

Except now he was alone, and there weren't supposed to be any more Badies...

But now was not the time to think about how there where still Badies or how monsters got _here_, into his world.

He had to get past the Jells, but he couldn't beat them alone…

No, he _could_ beat them alone. He just had to get them closer to each other… get them to merge… and hope that he could still focus his energy like he did _there_.

An idea came to him.

Before the Jells had a chance to stop him, he was on his feet and running back the way he had come.

"Stop!"

"Halt!"

"Get back here!!"

"What's the matter, slowpokes? Too scared to merge and just plow me over!? Chickens!!" he taunted as he ran.

"Grrr, we'll show you, human! Scale Jells, merge!!" and the five Jells combined into one large, green, slimy looking ball.

_Perfect._

They could move quicker, now that they were merged, and they quickly caught up to him. But he was ready. Skidding to a stop, he dove out of the way of the oncoming Jells and rolled quickly back on to his feet. In one quick motion, he turned towards the retreating bolder of Jells, hands out stretched.

And he felt nothing. The warm, flowing power that had always been there, that had always risen to the surface when he needed it most, was simply no longer there. _But it has to be…oh, come on…I know you can work…_

The Scaled Jells where coming back at him, and he had no time to move. He was going to die…

Then it was there. It rose so fast that he was almost overtaken by the rush of heat and the following dizziness. The reddish-pink energy ripped from his body almost violently, just barely channeling itself out of his hands and focusing its main force onto the Jells. When the dust cleared, there were five Lost Disks in the place of the Scaled Jells.

After his attack ended, he sank to his knees tiredly. He didn't think he would ever get used to doing that. He sighed in relief when he felt the warm power slowly sink back to wherever it came from. His dark brown eyes resting on the five Lost Disks for a moment…

_More dead… More bodies…_

His body shook once, and then he forced himself to stand. He only had a block to go before he reached his house, and hopefully his mom. Just around this last corner and he would be home, but this time he looked to make sure that there where no more_ Badies_.

He could see his apartment building, and ran towards it. He was almost at the door when there was an explosion. He immediately looked up to see three more balls of light collide with the side of his building. His mind barely registered the Pixies that where circling the now burning and crumbling building.

His mind barely registered the pieces of debris that were falling straight towards him…

His mind only clearly registered one thing. His mother had been in that building…

And now she was probably dead. And at that one moment, at that one realization, it felt like his heart had stopped beating. His heart felt frozen, and the cold icy feeling spread from his chest throughout the rest of his body until his whole body was left feeling like he had jumped into a frozen lake.

One of the pieces of debris was only feet away from crashing down on top of him, but still he couldn't move, not even realizing the danger, his body was frozen in place.

If his mind had been working correctly, he would have noticed the females voice yelling "Lighting!" or the attack that knocked the piece of concrete away from him. He would have noticed the cool, dark red metal arm that hooked itself around his waist and lifted him up like he was nothing. Or how his metallic rescuer had sprinted away—nearly as fast as a Tiger—from the falling building.

But his mind was still trying to process the fact that his home was crashing to the ground, most likely with his mother still inside it. And all he could think was: All it took was a matter of seconds… and now she's gone… she's gone!

Everything that had happened in the last forty-five minutes overwhelmed him, and his mind, which was unable to cope with it all, started to shut itself down. And then there was only darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Power of the Stones**

Chapter 2:

The sky was dark and thick with clouds. The air was cool and the wind just barely ruffled his dark brown hair.

He looked down at his feet and found that he was standing on a frozen sea of ice. The ice was a light, foggy blue; smooth except for the few patches of snow that dotted it.

And as he looked down through the ice, he saw something move within it.

He saw, rather then heard the ice begin to crack and fracture. And he became afraid. If the ice broke, then he would fall into what lay beneath and drown…

Something was stirring under the ice; something was waking, trying to get out…

He was afraid, but at the same time a part of him wasn't…

Then he heard a screeching sound, like an eagle's cry, and then he was engulfed in warm, pinkish red light and lifted into the dark sky, away from the ice.

And the thing beneath the frozen lake calmed and stilled. Once again falling into a deep sleep…

Waiting.

------

He slowly opened his eyes and only saw darkness. He waited for the sleepiness to fade slightly before he slowly sat up. It was cold, and he quickly pulled up the soft black fabric that covered him, wrapping it around his body. He shivered, the air made colder still by the dampness of his clothes.

He'd had one of those dreams again.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself. He hadn't had one of those kinds of dreams for a long time.

His eyes finally adjusted somewhat to the darkness, and he looked around at his surroundings.

He was in a destroyed building. Half of the ceiling was missing, and he could see the black night sky and the brightly glowing stars outside. A fourth of the wall farthest from him was gone too and the walls on his right and left had large holes. He had been laid on the floor against the only wall that was still completely intact.

How did he…?

"Your awake," a deep voice stated from the shadows to his right.

He jumped, and slowly turned his head toward the voice. He hadn't seen anyone there…

The dark outline of a monster slowly rose from its sitting position on the floor behind one of the still standing pillars. It turned toward him and slowly came to stand in a patch of moonlight.

He stared.

What kind of monster was he…?

Human shaped armor, sword and shield… a Durahan?

Red colored, like fire… Red wings, with gold flecks on the bottom half… Gold flecks on his armor… Emerald eyes… But only one monster had those traits that he knew of... A Phoenix…

A Durahan and Phoenix mix…

But was that even possible?

"I'm surprised you woke so soon," the monster said, returning him to the present. His mind finally coming out of its foggy state, everything that had just happened came crashing back down on him. Why he was here and what had happened. The monster attacks, seeing so many people die in a matter of seconds, fighting the Jells. Seeing his home destroyed…

His chest tightened, and his eyes began to sting. Pulling his kneed up close to him, his grip on the blanket tightened, and his body started to shake. Then the tears started flowing. He couldn't seem to hold them back…

The monster stiffened slightly and started shifting uneasily, his fists clenching and unclenching nervously.

But with his face hidden within his knees he didn't see this. He continued to cry silently before the monster finely responded.

"Don't do that," it commanded gruffly.

He tried to stop the tears, but he couldn't get them to even slow. They just kept coming, and they wouldn't stop. His chest tightened even more and he was finding it hard to breathe now…

"She's dead… mom's dead…" he whispered to himself, and the tears begun to flow harder as he began to sob.

He'd said it. His mother was gone…

The monster stilled. It waited a full minute, before it finally spoke again. "Your mother, she was in that building?"

He lifted his head from his knees and nodded silently, the tears still running down his cheeks. His mother had been in the building, he knew that. She was gone, and crying wouldn't help or bring her back. The shacking in his body started to fade.

"And, your father?" the monster asked.

He shock his head, the tears where beginning to slow now too. "My father died six years ago," he whispered quietly. The tightening in his chest slowly reseeded too a dull ache.

He quickly wiped away his tears, suddenly feeling slightly embarrass of having broken down in front of someone. He was brave, and he needed to be strong. He shouldn't cry, _**especially in front of someone who could be the enemy**_**.**

He quickly erased that though, having no idea where it had come from. He shouldn't think like that, he wouldn't think like that! This monster was not the enemy, because if he was, he wouldn't have saved him.

And anyway, the monster was part Phoenix…

Part Phoenix…?

His mind once again came to a screeching halt. He stared in shock at the monster that was standing in front of him. There was no mistaking it, he was definitely part Phoenix…

The monster crossed his arms and turned slightly to his right, obviously fully aware of being stared at. It felt like it took forever for him to get his mind back in order, and the first question to come.

Or more like tried. It came out sounding more like very slurred gibberish.

"Genki," the monster said thoughtfully.

He blinked. "How did you know..?"

"Your eyes," The monster interrupted. "You are the one with Clear Eyes."

"Huh?" Then he remembered, about the times _there_ when others had said the same. He had never really under stood it, but had never questioned it either. He had simply brushed it of.

"Do you think you can walk?" the monster asked him.

"Uh, Yeah…" He slowly got to his feet, blanket still rapt around his body.

As soon as the answer left his mouth, the red armored monster briskly started walking out of the ruined building. He had to practically run to catch up.

"What's your name?" He asked as he caught up.

"Garuda," The monster answered.

As they made there way out into the street, though, his question was soon forgotten as he turned his attention to the destroyed buildings, then to the bodies that they passed and then back to the ruined buildings again. He never let his eyes stay on the bodies for more then a moment though. He had counted them as they walked at first, but he had stopped once he had reached 23.

How could someone do this? How could someone be this evil?

"Where are we going?" He asked suddenly. He received no answer. "Shouldn't we look for survivors...?"

"It isn't necessary."

He stopped then, and the monster did to. "What do you mean?" He asked quietly.

"There will be no survivors." Garuda replayed evenly, turning slightly to look at him. "We need to keep moving." The armored monster added gruffly.

"But…"

"Garuda!" a faintly familiar female's voice called out.

He jumped at the voice, instincts quickly taking over his body. He pivoted swiftly on his right foot, turning to face the new arrival.

A female White Hound came running up to them, looking somewhat out of breath. A part of his mind quickly noted the strange color of her coat. It was a beautiful pearl white with a barley noticeable light blue tint to it. It was strange for a White Hound to have that color of fur.

Or maybe not; the only White Hound he had ever met had been Grey Wolf.

"The second wave is on its way!" The White Hound breathed out, though her voice still held a calm air to it.

"Second wave…?" he asked, fear starting to sink into his heart. There would be nothing left of his home… "W-we have to stop it…"

"I'm sorry child, but that would be impossible," the White Hound's soft voice whispered sadly.

"But there are probably still people…" His eyes were stinging again and a tremor shook his body.

"If there are still people alive, there's nothing we can do for them," Garuda's voice cut through his thoughts. "We need to find a gate before the second wave reaches us."

There was nothing they could do…

His home was going to be completely destroyed, and there was nothing _he _could do. He could help save another world, but he powerless to save his own…

There had to be away…

He felt so weak and useless…

*Another crack appeared in the ice covering the frozen lake*

"Looks like we won't have time," Garuda said harshly as he pulled his sword out from the sheath on his back.

The White Hound turned her head and he looked up; in the sky heading towards them at amazing speeds were a group of six Dragons.

"It seems that I didn't go unnoticed after all," the White Hound said as she turned her dark blue eyes to him. "Child, around my neck there's a string. Untie it."

It took his mind a moment to register the command and to tear his eyes from the Dragons heading toward them. Then his body was moving and he reached out and found the black leather string that was tied to the White Hound's neck. Once he got the knot undone, he let go of the string.

The string fell heavily to the ground and made a dull clicking sound as it hit the pavement. He looked down and his dark brown eyes widened. Lying on the ground, connected to the black leather, was a light emerald green stone. A Magic Stone.

"Put it on and don't take it off." The White Hound instructed.

"Here they come," Garuda warned, getting in to a fighting stance as the Dragons began to dive towards them.

And no matter what they said, he _wouldn't_ allow them to attack his home again.

Reaching out for the stone's power, like Holly had said he should do, he closed his hand tightly around it.

. . . the Dragons unleashed their attacks . . .

The same warm power that he had called upon to defeat the Jells came surging forward, channeling itself into the stone, making it glow a bright red. But the power felt different this time. Something had come with it…

Another kind of power…

The stone's light exploded and expanded outwards, engulfing him, Garuda, and the White Hound in its light.

When the light faded, the Dragons found that their three targets had disappeared, and their attacks had hit nothing but pavement and road.


End file.
